Electrical Problem in my tow plug.....

[Barry]

Yesterday I tied onto a horse trailer that was wired by Joe Smuck the rag man at a local gas station. Nothing worked and the brakes were locked.



Unplugged the cord and drove the 90 miles to home.



Worked last night about an hour trying to straighten it out. Gave up about dark. This morning I stripped the plug off the end and found the two turn signal wires... ..... wired them direct and delivered the unit to my dealer.



HERE IS MY PROBLEM: My RIGHT turn/stop in my tow plug no longer works. Left works fine. Running lights work fine. Only the right one has a problem.



Everything on the truck works. My question is:



A) Did I burn a wire in my tow plug?

B) Are there fuses in the tow package for the right and left turn/stops?

C) If I did burn a wire, how did I not burn a fuse?? We have checked all the fuses under the hood.

D) Are there separate fuses for the factory tow package and if so, where are they located?



I need to leave for California Sunday... ... I am thinking I could run a jumper wire from the right rear turn signal on the truck down to the tow plug... ... ..... if I cannot find the problem.



Whadiyallthink??

 

[Prairie Dog]

Most likely you tripped your TIPM (total integrated power module) and you need to have your dealer reset it. Be forwarned, if your dealer says he has to replace it then find another dealer. Some of them still dont know what to do with TIPM's.

BTW, starting in 06 these stupid POS devices take the place of traditional fuses and add to the dealer coffers whenever trailers cause overloads to the truck wiring. And gee, how often does that happen?

 

[Barry]

Well I'll be dipped! Never heard of that one.



Thanx a bunch!

 

[d6c]

Go through your owners manual fuse section and outline which fuses are for the trailer plug. iirc battery positive, trailer brake, marker lights is it, remainder which are left/right turn and backup are through the tipm. iirc resettable by dealer 3 times, then time for a new one. reportedly not cheap. good luck.

 

[Barry]

Thank You!



Is it just merely a scan procedure thru the ECM data port? I have had a bad experience with out local DC dealer so I want to be armed with all the info I can get.



I assume it is not like clearly codes, it has to go to a DC dealer?

 

[jelag]

We have an 08 5500 and we decided when we set up to tow that we'd use the current circuits supplied through the TIPM to do nothing more than trip relays...

We ran an 8 gauge wire to the 12+ and a ground wire to the frame so that our trailer batteries would get a good charge and a complete charge... we raised voltage at the trailer batteries close to . 6 v. doing this alone... .

We than powered off this good voltage source at the back of the truck with a simple box and a set of relays... . so the wiring harness on the truck triggers the relays and now we have good power to the trailer lights... we were surprised that the trailer lights looked 10-15% brighter with the higher voltage... . and we know we can't overload the TIPM...

Of course each circuit is protected before the relay with a fuse...

 

[Barry]

Hmmmmmmmmmm... ... ... ...

 

[Prairie Dog]

Barry, yes it will set codes but many dealers don't know how to get to them in the TIPM.

If they just checck for codes in the ECM like they normally do then they won't see them from what I understand. d6c is correct though, they can only reset it 3 times for some reason.

Jelag's fix sounds like the best! I often wondered if a small box could be built to go inline with the harness to the trailer and do just as he explained. A person could either run a good heavy wire back from the battery or use the 7 pin connectors charge wire for power.

Who will build the first production unit!

 

[Barry]

Well, this is the first time this has ever happened... ... ..... with all my trucks.



Leaving for California Sunday or Monday... ... ... . think I'll swing by one of the dealers in Texas where they know me.



Thanx for all the help!

 

[Barry]

Stop by a horse trailer dealer yesterday to say Hi and bought this unit while I was there.



Plugged it into my truck and everything worked fine... ... ... ... ..... except the right turn/stop on the trailer.



Think I will just run a jumper wire down from the RR turn signal to the plug in until I can get to my DC dealer in Texas Wed. morning... ... ... . View attachment 75443

 

[DZink24]

this is weird. i am having the exact same issue with my buddies car hauler. every light works, as well as the brakes, with the exception of the driver turn/brake light. i was thinking the same thing as you, i was gonna run a temporary light like the ones that tow truck drivers use on the one side. my question is, how does one go about hooking it up if the 7 pin plug is plugged in? where do i tie the temporary light in? i gotta run on a four hour trip monday morning, and i'm not gonna have time to get it to a mechanic to make a permanent fix.

 

[Barry]

DZink,



Here is what I am going to try: I am going to pull the RR tail light assy out and splice into the turn signal wire. Then I am going to take that wire and splice into the right turn signal wire on the 4 way flat plug. It should energize the 7 blade plug.



If it does not, then I will just splice into the right turn/stop on the 7 blade RV plug.



And if that does not work, then the insurance policy and the payment book could start rubbing together creating enough friction to cause a fire.

 

[DZink24]

hahahaha if thats the case, delete this post for legal reasons if the unfortunate should happen. .



anyhoo, i just got off the phone with a long time TDR member, we discussed electrical isues, i may run and get some of the magnetic tow lights, but here is my concern... i was planning on running the magnetic lights into the 4 prong plug that has been hidden behind my license plate, so that i can still utilize the 7 prong w/ the running lights and brakes. the risk i run is that it will overload the system and smoke everything... . its one of those... 90% of the lights work, do i push the envelope any more... . ??

 

[Barry]

It Worked Oo. Oo. Oo.



I removed the RR tail light assy, spliced into the turn signal wire, then ran a jumper wire down and plugged the wire into the right turn/stop spot on the 4 flat plug.



Wha Lah! I now have right turn/stop on the trailer again. If it will work until I can get to my DC dealer in Texas, then it was a success.



Who said Red Neck Technology did not work??????????????

 

[DZink24]

congrats... me, on the other hand, not so much luck. i went to tractor supply today, and out of a shot in the dark, i bought a female 7 way reciever, that reduced to a 4 prong. i then plugged the adapter in to the trucks 4 prong that has been hidden behind the bumper forever and the same thing. all lights work except for the turn, flasher, and stop light on the driver side. oh well, i'll take my chances. .



even your redneck fix won't work for me, the problem lies w/i the truck!

 

[Barry]

OK, follow me through on this... ... .....

The 4 Flat plug and the 7 blade are powered by the TIPM.

THEREFORE: You must supply power to the dead side from another source... ... ... Hence splicing into the turn/stop wire on the tail light assy and then take the wire and run it down and cram it into the left side position of the 4 flat plug. Plug your 7 blade back in and the the dead side will now be powered by the left turn/stop tail light... ... ... ...

Then go get the TIPM reset... ... .....

 

[DZink24]

i'll let the mechanic know about this, i drop the truck off thursday. ugh. electronics, can't live with 'em, can't live without'em...

 

[d6c]

Potential backfeed toward the tipm is the concern I would have doing this. Don't KNOW that it is a problem, just think you better consider it.

 

[DZink24]

i just got off the phone with the mechanic, he says that all wiring is good, so i will see if the dealer will reset the TIPM. I'll keep in mind the thing about the dealer telling me i have to buy a new TIPM.

 

[Barry]

Am in southern Calif. this weekend. Came by a DC dealership in Monahans, Tx. on the way out. Called them while I was rolling west. Everyone was out to lunch but the service writer said they had reset them before. How much I asked? "Takes about an hour... ... ... . $90. 00



I'll stop in on the way back... ... ... ... ... .